This invention relates generally to controllers for games and simulator programs implemented on a personal computer ("PC") or a dedicated video game system and more particularly to two-handed game controllers for inputting user commands to game and simulation programs via a PC port or bus, or a video game system input terminal.
Conventionally, either a PC running a game or simulation program or a specialized video game system receives input from an external control device, such as a user-operated game controller. PC's generally come equipped with a game or other port where an external controller can be plugged in. Video game systems generally come with at least two ports for controller input. Controllers provide an essential key to the functioning and enjoyment of a video game or simulation by providing the necessary link between a user's actions and the signal input into the PC or game system. A controller senses the user's actions and converts them into electronic signals which are transmitted to the PC or game system and used control the video game or simulation. The game or simulation can thereby react to the user's actions. In order to satisfy consumer desires and expectations, therefore, a controller must accurately interpret and transfer the input from the operator to the machine, and additionally should provide for comfortable use and full functionality.
Various controllers and simulation devices have been developed which attempt to satisfy an operator's desires for realistic control, comfortable use, quick response, accurate input transfer and ease of button/function access. These devices include: single-handed controllers, analog controllers, digital controllers, two-handed controllers, joystick controllers, throttle devices, steering wheel inputs, gun-shaped controllers, foot controllers, and much more; each of them striving to meet consumer hopes for a more enjoyable gaming experience. Even with all these devices, however, there still remain several industry-wide problems.
One problem that the industry has faced in meeting consumer desires is providing a controller that allows variable analog input to the video game while still providing the capability of digital (discrete value) input. Traditionally, controllers have been either digital or analog, or have otherwise been built with separate actuators for digital and analog control. Efforts to provide a single controller with both analog and digital capabilities have been largely unsuccessful in meeting consumer desires because they have resulted in the creation of bulky, unmanageable controllers and/or inconvenient access to either analog or digital functions. For example, the Sega digital/analog controller uses separate actuators for digital and analog functions, requiring a bulky body and resulting in actuators inconveniently located within the body.
Purely analog controllers are also undesirable for many operators because of the loss of traditional digital functionality and feel, often desirable and sometimes required for game play. The Fujitsu x-y pointing device, U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,502, is an example of an analog device, used in a PC keyboard, for x-y directional pointing of a computer cursor. A need, therefore, remains for a compact controller capable of both analog and digital signal transfer, with convenient access to both the analog and the digital actuator.
An additional problem in the industry is the configuration of the button groupings on existing controllers, especially two-handed controllers. In button groupings of conventional two-handed controllers, the buttons, while generally in close proximity, fail to offer optimal rapid, easy, and comfortable access from one button to another. The button configurations of the prior art typically have divergent pairs, as in the Sega controller, or parallel button lines, as in many generic controllers. Furthermore, the button's tops tend to protrude from the controller's top surface with a shape and configuration such that a user's hand digit will "catch" on the button edge of an adjacent button if the thumb or finger is slid from one button to another. These configurations of the prior art fail to provide for the most desirable, efficient and ergonomic access by a user's hand digit, as they each require the lifting of the hand digit to reach other buttons within the grouping. It is therefore desirable, to have a button grouping configuration and design that would allow a user to slide, glide or roll his thumb or finger easily from one button in the grouping to another without having to lift it from the controller, and without it "catching" on another button.
A further concern in the industry is the problem of creating a controller that is comfortable for virtually every possible user, regardless of hand-size. Controllers in the industry are currently incapable of being adjusted to fit various hand-sizes. As a result, the controllers are either too small for a large-handed operator or too bulky for a small-handed operator. This means that conventional controllers are uncomfortable for many of the market consumers. Particularly, most two-handed controllers only fit loosely in the hands of large-handed users, requiring uncomfortable curling of the hand digits in order to actuate the controller functions. On the other hand, small-handed users must move their hands around the controller during operation to access all of the various functions. A controller design is needed, therefore, that will facilitate comfortable access to all of the features and functions by users of various hand-sizes.
Furthermore, conventional controllers lack a comfortable, ergonomic gripping structure configured for various hand-sizes, which is desirable for both normal and extended game-play. In order to be comfortable and ergonomic, the gripping structure should "fill" the user's hands, regardless of size. The need exists, therefore, for a "one-size-fits-all" controller that provides a comfortable and ergonomic gripping structure for use by operators with various hand-sizes.
There exists in the industry, additionally, a need for a two-handed controller that allows full controller functionality from a hand-held position or while positioned on a table-top or other surface. There are several conventional two-handed controllers which offer triggers located on the bottom or the front of the controller to enhance game play by enabling a trigger function. However, if these controllers were to be set down on a table-top, the triggers would become inaccessible or at least inconvenient, and game play would be correspondingly impeded by the loss or impairment of the trigger functionality. Furthermore, conventional two-handed controllers are designed for hand-held operation and therefore lack structures for effective table-top operation. Many consumers desire the capability of using the video game controllers from either a hand-held or table-top position. It is desirable, therefore, to have a controller design that provides full functionality of enhanced and normal features from either position.